Verizon Announces That They Have Entered Into A Patent Licensing Agreement With Google

Technology and software should be all about innovation, and in most cases it is. Except for those times when some of the biggest tech companies who make products we use in our every day lives are stuck in courts battling it out over patents. This does nothing to help innovation, all it does it waste time and resources that could be used for doing better things to actually innovate. Google seems to firmly believe this, and apparently so does Verizon Wireless, as they have both just announced that they will be entering into a patent licensing agreement to share ideas and promote innovation.

The idea of the patent licensing agreement is to lower the risk of frivolous patent litigation according to Verizon, which seems like just as good of a reason as any to enter into a patent licensing agreement with one of the biggest tech companies on the planet. The Patent system is supposed to be used "promote the progress of science and useful arts," but often and in the last 5 years, the industry has been laden with all kinds of patent lawsuits involving many of today's top tech companies. For some the reasoning lies with the intention of protecting their investments and hard work, while others seem to simply just want to make as much money as they can from a patent court case. As we've stated before in other articles regarding some of those patent lawsuits, the only real winners at the end of such cases are the lawyers.

While announcing the deal and the reasons behind it, Verizon stated that they have "long championed patent reforms and industry actions that promote innovation. We're pleased that today's licensing deal with Google will help reduce the supply of patents that so-called patent trolls can assert against us." Verizon and Google have both been silent on exactly what the terms of the patent licensing agreement is, but in the end does it really matter since the intention is to help stop ridiculous patent litigation? What do you think about Verizon and Google's Patent license agreement? Is this something that should have happened sooner and do you think more companies will follow Google and Verizon's lead?

Lover of food, craft beer, movies, travel, and all things tech. Video games have always been a passion of his due to their ability to tell incredible stories, and home automation tech is the next big interest, in large part because of the Philips Hue integration with Razer Chroma. Current Device: Google Pixel.